Stralsund, Germany DAY 3 (just a few)

Brattttt, so good.

Jonas eating the leftover meat...on the FERRY home & he's wearing a HEANIE!

Stralsund, Germany DAY 3- The Faces of Vegemite (HAHAAA)

Ahh, Sarah the Aussie loves Vegemite.

Stralsund, Germany DAY 2 (just a few)

Never ending stairs, looking down.

View, finally at the top!

Pure lard, ewwww.

The meat, oh my goodness.

Yes, it rained ;)

Stralsund, Germany DAY 1 (just a few)



Waiting for the ferry. Sara & Sarah.

 

Ferry!



Beach.



Museum, building not finished by Hitler.



China buffet, me and Sarah. 

Stralsund, Germany-Deutschland-Tyskland





Days 71-73 Oct. 20-22 Wednesday morning...05.00 met at Knutpunkten (train station here), took trian to Malmo (40min), took bus to Trelleborg (45-60min), ferry to Sassnitz,Germany(4hrs), walked to bus stop(15-20min), took bus to a museum(15min).  

Museum-don't know the exact name of it but it is a building that is about 1km long built by Hitler, but it was never fully finished. Here we walked around the building, so big, and also walked down to the beach.

Then we headed to a nearby train station. There we took the train (50min) to Stralsund, Germany which is the town we stayed in. Got off, 5 min walk to hotel :) Got settled in to our rooms then started our exploration of the town. We walked first to the church in the center of town...learned some history on it. I don't understand Swedish so I don't know what Jonas and Richard(teachers) were speaking about so sorry can't tell you much.

After that well we just took a short walk around the center area---then we went to dinner. China buffet :) Yummmmm, spring rolls & fortune cookies. After dinner we headed out, then headed to the hotel.

The following day we got up for breakfast which was nutella and bread or ham/cheese and bread. Today we were doing alot more viewing of the town. We went to many different parts of the town. We saw plenty of buildings that looked like they had been there for 100s of years. Stralsund has lots of mideval architecture in the buildings. So, once again Jonas explained some of the buildings to us. And once again I had no idea what he said. Well amidst all the sightseeing and history it started raining, then it poured. Wonderful, right. No, not at all! Okay, so tried not to let the rain bother me since really it doesn't...I mean I'm from Washington, it rains all the time there! We got to go inside the church we had looked at the day before, we even went up one of the tower things...90 meters up. Steep, small, spiral stairs that I thought were never going to end. But the view from the top was priceless. After, we got some free time, which Sarah and I used to go in the shops/stores there. We also stopped at a bakery/cafe for something to eat. Pastries, dessert basicallly. Three things I learned that day -

1) Germans don't speak very much english-AT ALL.

2) Hair dye is way cheap to buy

3) Stralsund sells heanies!

So hair dye, well Sarah wanted to try to dye her hair back to it's natural blonde color so she bought some hair dye. We went back that afternoon to the hotel and well, I dyed her hair. I did a fabulous job might I add.

Heanies, hmmm probably wondering what those are, right?! So the "hat" lookies like a beanie from the front but the back looks like a trucker hat. Those two combined make a HEANIE! & well Jonas has one! Lucky guy, haha Sarah and I went to buy them but they only had tan colored ones, so we decided not to.

Okay, after free time we went back to hotel (dyed Sarah's hair) and got ready for dinner. We were all going out to a medival feast. Literally a feast. We get to the restaurant and walk into the medival times, it's very well decorated to symbolize that time period. At the table we have our plates and napkins already and our eating utensil...a knife. That's it! No forks! We are suppose to eat with our hands! Just like they did back then, oh how fun. Well first course if I can call it that was bread with butter and a traditional medival spread. Which was pure lard and spices and I think maybe some chicken and onion, but I'm not positive. It wasn't too bad, except for the fact that I could feel the lard sliding down my throat, that wasn't to comforting. Next course was, potato dumplings, cooked red cabbage, sourkrout, cooked potatoes, and these fried potatoes things. Everything was good...not a fan of the dumpling though, it was too gummy. In the middle of eating all that comes the main food. The meat. A huge tray of meat. Lamb shank, chicken halves, ham, porkribs and I believe that was all. So, lots. I ate the ham because personally all the meat looked dry and well unappetizing. Keep in mind that we ate with our hands the whole time. Ohh and another thing Sarah is like borderline germaphobe, so it just about killed her that she had to eat with her hands. Ya, but proud of her that she did it. That was our feast, Jonas happended to enjoy quite a bit of the meat and somehow managed to take some "home" with him. Once again we went out, then headed back to the hotel.

Last day, breakfast-same as the day before. Except this time Sarah made sure that some of our class tried vegemite. Which is like peanut butter for me or nutella for europeans. In case you've never tried vegemite it's made from a yeast extract and is salty. It's not horrible but not deliscious either. Anyway we did manage to get some of the kids to try it and well none of them liked it, one girl thought it wasn't too bad though. Jonas and Richard were not fans though! Well it was our final walk around the town, once again we walked and learned about various buildings/areas in the town. Some more free time, this time we went to a market that was happening in the center and I ate a bratwurst. This country is home of the brats I tell you, so good. Well we had to head back to the hotel by mid day so we could all head to the train station. We left Stralsund a little after three that afternoon and started the long journey back to Helsingborg. Well, a little after  midnight I finally made it back home. Great trip, although it was only three days it was well worth it <3

xoxo

Esmo

Es-kils-tuna, a few pictures.

Es-kils-tuna, hahaha.

Day 69 Oct. 18 It was a long, long, weekend. Six hour drive to Eskilstuna Friday night and six hours back Sunday morning. We got to the summer house/cabin around 11pm on Friday, I met Thomas who is Paul's brother and had a cup of tea. Next morning was up at 7:30, enjoyed some breakfast then we took a walk around the lake. So about 40 minute walk in like 2 degree celsius weather! My ears and nose were definetly feeling cold after that. After that I got to meet up with Sofia. She showed me around different parts of the town, told me a little history, and then we went and got fika. It was so great to see her, I had lots of fun walking around the town taking pictures and whatnot. I have to say I think I like Eskilstuna more than Helsingborg...I just felt like it was calmer and more relaxing. Mainly we talked about differences between the two countries. We probably talked 95% English and 5% Swedish. I told her Swedish is hard for me, it's difficult to understand but that I am trying to learn as much as my brain will let me. That was about it...But yeah, she said that they have like a house or something further up north and that if I ever wanted to join them I could go up with them. So perhaps I will go up for a weekend with her family! Anyway after meeting with Sofia we were going to get ready to go to Stockholm. I also got to stop by and met farmor (Paul's mother) before we left. She is 96 years old and still going :) Although we were driving up to sightsee we were only doing so from the car...we were suppose to be going to a party for my host siblings cousin's birthday soon. But, I did get to see the royal castle, their "white house", ha even a big cruise ship. Another day I'm sure I'll go up to Stockholm and actually walk around but it was still great to have stopped by. Well like I mentioned before we were going to a party. We drove to the location...hmm can't remember name of the town but it's right outside of Stockholm. There I met more family. Cousins (2),  their husbands, their kids, birthday guy's parents, his sister and her husband. All of them were very welcoming and quite nice. Once of the cousins Cecilia (spelling? birthday guy's wife) happened to have something in common with me. She has been to Seattle quite a few times! I belive more than me...and I've lived in the area for 11 years. Geesh. So it was great to talk with her about Seattle and a few areas around the city. Well, we had a wonderful dinner and yummy chocolate cake to go with it. Mmm, around 10 or so we excused ourselves as we had a 1 1/2 hour drive back to the summer house/cabin. We said our goodbyes and drove back. Once again we had a cup of tea and then headed to bed. Next morning we got up...early agian. Ate and went for a walk, but I decided to stay in and read. Comfy I might add. We said bye to Thomas and went into town to say bye to farmor. Eventually we got back on the rode for yet another long drive. About half way back we stopped by a town known as the "candy town". Here they have a candy shop were they make polkagris (peppermint candy) from hand. You can actually watch them as they make the candy, but they weren't making any when we stopped by. They have lots and lots of different flavors to pick from. After buying some candy we got back to driving...3 more hours to go. Of course driving to and back we didn't just drive the whole time, we stopped every 2 hours or so for some coffee or candy or just to use the bathroom. But still, it was a long journey.  Next time I will have to jump into the lake then hop into the suana, because I didn't get the chance to this time. I loved the trip though! Ha, funny now to think about it but I don't really remember what went on throughout the week before we left....just volleyball practice Monday and Thursday but not much else, oh yeah school.

Coming up this week is dinner with the Helsingborg girls, Germany, and helping Veronica move to a new flat.

Until I return from Germany!

xoxo Es

p.s - I really didn't kill any tuna while I was there :)

It's fall...autumn.

Day 62 Oct. 11 Yesterday marks my two months of being in Sweden, time has flown :) Saturday the 9th I spent almost the whole day in Gothenburg. I really liked the city, it is the third biggest city in Sweden. First being Stockholm and Malmo being second biggest. It takes about 2 hr to drive there, so not too bad. It also ended up being very sunny out, it was a beautiful fall day! We ate some delicious food, as always and had a huge cinnamon roll. Oh, and Dakota came with us too. But as soon as I got home I was exhausted....hours and hours of walking around the city can sure make you tired.

 Hmm, in school I learned a few new things....

Buon giorno (name here), come stai?
Sto mallissimo :( OR Sto benissimo :)
Como ti chiami?
Mi chiamo....
Ciao.

Jag tycker....
Jag gilllar....
Vad betyder...
Jag talar/pratar engelska och spanska.
Vad heter du?

Anyway, I am so excited because next Wednesday I finally get to go to Germany with the Staden och Frametiden class! It should be lots of fun. I am suppose to have a test in Italian on Friday (same day I'll be in Germany) but since I won't be there I don't have to take it. My teacher said I'll just make it up but I honestly don't think I'll even be able to take it....hence the fact that I've only been to half of our Italian lessons so far and I still don't have a textbook! Yeah, so I'll see. Photography has been fine, I have a few pictures that aren't due till the 18th, but first I need to figure out what the assignment actually says...Google Translate! Spanish has also been fine, I do the work, I learn new words, it's all fine and dandy. My Swedish BC class, well still don't understand anything but thats okay, still like the class since all I really do is sit with my laptop :) And English; no clue what we are doing in that class, even though it's English and I understand everything I still somehow manage not knowing what we are doing...or when classes get canceled. All in all, school is school sometimes fun sometimes not so much.

Well since I have "some" free time on my hands I decided to take up knitting again, no clue what I plan on making but it's something for me to do. I also joined a volleyball "team", so I have practice on Monday and Thursday nights. I love it, so far. I also was introduced to the wonderful world of http://www.picnik.com/. thanks to Dakota. So I'll be spending some time on there too.

Yesterday, Dakota and I went to Karnan to take pictures. I was kind of doing like mock senior pictures for here, I think they turned out good. I really have taken a liking to photography, but I don't think I'd ever consider it as a career more of just a hobby.

So whats coming up this week, well this weekend I will be going to Eskilstuna. It's like a 5-6 hour drive north of Helsingborg. I will get to meet farmor for the first time, she is 96 years old! And hopefully I will get to meet up with Sophia who was an exchange student from Eskilstuna last year at Curtis. Also might even take a dip in the lake then jump into the sauna.

Okay, not too much else happened. Talked with my family via skype Sunday night, heard the apple squeeze was a success amidst all the rain. First year I've missed it I believe since I've lived on the island. Anywho, people please feel free to write to me or something. Need my address? Just look on the left hand column and click where it says "How to reach me....".

Until next Sunday or Monday.

xoxo Es